We are just 10 days away from our first anniversary, and I am happy to say we have finished over 100 subtitles in this time. Things have been rough, could have been better, but overall the experience has been positive. Just like last year, this is around the time when most people are available to help because of vacations, so I am again asking for help.

We are mainly looking for translators and people with good English to work in quality assurance. For some shows like Shuukan we have closed captions which can be used for translating, plus we have a stable set of translators who can help with lines you don't understand. For QAs, we need people who can fix grammar mistakes, and who can make sentences flow naturally.

Our next two big projects are the AKB Documentary that NHK will air on January 23 and the Kin Sma special aired on January 6. The more QAs we have, the faster we will be able to release them. We are also working on SKE48 no Magical Radio (episode 3 is being currently checked) and AKBINGO! with the support of KSK48, a translation group from Indonesia. And we have certain interest in translating Sasshi's dorama, if we get at least one more stable translator.

Back when we started there wasn't another active AKB48 translation team, so the pressure was immense. Now that they are gaining global recognition, our task is not only to feed existing fans but also to explain new ones what AKB48 is about. There are still people thanking us for the very first documentary, because it was a great introduction, and I hope the Sma Special and the Documentary of AKB48+1 will have an even bigger effect.

I want to publicly thank all the people who joined me a year ago, because without them the project wouldn't have started. There are still people who are working in this project a year after, which makes me happy. There is a contributor core: others might come and go, but as long as that core stays, we can continue.

As always, we can be found here, from where you can download our subtitles, and at #SUB48@irc.rizon.net, where we work, chat and idle. We have a Twitter account and a Facebook one which you can follow to get updates. Even if you cannot translate, time or check subtitles, liking us in Facebook, retweeting our releases, linking to us or simply mentioning us in sites and forums will help us gather more visits, which increase the possibility of finding people who can help us making subtitles faster and better.

Finally, thanks to everyone for the given support, and hopefully we will be able to continue forward during this year as well.ET